to business and politics; it applies to every facet of a Christian’s life. If the failure of Christians to practice their faith in their economic lives is the cause of the current economic and political crises, then the solution is the application of Christian economics to the US economy and political system by Christians living their faith.
Human rights are based on the first principle of the absolute dignity of the human person. All humans have equal rights and every human being is obligated to respect the rights of others. Human rights are based on nature and because of this cannot be limited or taken away. They apply to all people without exception. Human rights, because they are derived by nature, cannot be applied to corporations or entities artificially created by the government; nor can human rights be applied to the government. A business does not have rights, only people have rights. A corporation does not have rights, only people have rights. A town, a city, a county, a state, or a country does not have rights; only people have rights.
Every human being needs freedom, safety, food, water, shelter, clothing, a livelihood, energy, transportation, communication, healthcare, disability care, old age care, education, privacy and rest/recreation (physical, emotional and psychological). Every human being needs care when they are very young, very old and very sick (physical, emotional or psychological). Corresponding to these human needs are human rights. People, all people have the right to be free; physical, emotional, psychological, financial, speech, thought, religion, movement, and political action. People have the right to safety; physical, emotional and psychological. This right applies to their person and their property. People have a right to food and water. Food and water cannot be so expensive that people cannot afford to buy them. Because the amount and sources of fresh water are limited, large sources of water such as lakes and ground water cannot be privatized since this would deny the basic human right to water. People have a right to clothing and clothing cannot be so expensive that people cannot afford clothing.
People have a right to housing; housing cannot be so expensive that people cannot afford housing nor can a person’s home be taken away. If a person owes money or taxes on his or her home, then other ways must be pursued to obtain that money but the person should not be deprived of their home—it is their human right. People have a right to a livelihood; a person’s livelihood cannot be taken away arbitrarily or because someone else wants to increase their profits. People have a right to education; education cannot be so expensive that people cannot afford education. People have a right to energy; energy cannot be so expensive that people cannot afford energy. People have a right to healthcare; healthcare cannot be so expensive that people cannot afford healthcare. When is food or water or clothing or shelter or energy or furniture or transportation or healthcare or education so expensive that people cannot afford these things? People need all of these things, not just one or a few of them. Obviously, there is an expense or price associated with each of these things. When the price of one of these necessities is so high that the person cannot afford to pay for the others, then that price is too high.
Pricing is best managed by businesses following the just price principle. A price for a service is just when it is fair to both the seller and buyer. It cannot be so high that a family’s budget is impacted, nor so low that the business loses money. Businesses can set prices which are fair. They should not follow the false principle of maximization of prices. Nor does the pseudo principle of supply and demand dictate prices. Prices always need to be just and there is no moral basis for raising the price of a product or service because of scarcity. When businesses cannot manage prices justly, then the government needs to step in and make sure that pricing is fair and not extreme. Prices cannot be so high that the lower working class cannot afford the basic necessities in life: food, water, shelter, clothes, transportation, healthcare and education. Prices cannot be used by businesses to force other businesses to go bankrupt. Unfortunately, many businesses have used the immoral strategy of lowering prices to such an extent that smaller businesses cannot compete. This strategy is used to allow larger businesses to take over smaller businesses which reduces or eliminates competition, reduces service to customers and eliminates the livelihoods of people.
People have a right to rest and recreation: a person cannot be made to work so long in one day without a break for rest, nor for so many days in a week without a day break for rest, nor for so many weeks in a year without a week or weeks off for rest. Every person by nature has the right to movement, the right to communication, the right to work and the right to equal pay for equal work. Unequal pay for equal work is common for women and people of different ages. It often happens that within an organization two or more people do the same work but are paid unequally. Unfortunately, they do not know that they are paid differently. Every person has the right to privacy of their person, their possessions, their communication, their ideas, and their opinions. The government cannot deny this right, nor can employers deny this right.
Every human needs to own property, (clothing, furniture, housing, appliances, etc.) and every human being has the right to own property alone as well as jointly with others (co-own property within a corporation). One person’s right to property is limited by every other person’s right to property. One person or a group of persons cannot own so much property within a town or a county or a state or a country that others would be prevented from owning property, the amount of property required to live a safe and decent life. The right to own property is a human right which is derived by nature and therefore corporations or entities artificially created by the government cannot own property—the humans who constitute the corporation own the property of the corporations.
God created the universe and because of this everything belongs to God: the natural resources of earth (water, land, trees, elements, minerals, chemicals, petroleum, etc.) animals and other non-human living things. God created the universe for people, all people. God wants people, all people, and all people of every generation to share the natural resources of earth (water, land, trees, elements, minerals, chemicals, petroleum, natural gas, animals and other non-human living things. It is obvious that the natural resources of earth are finite. Since God wants people, all people, and all people of every generation to share the natural resources of earth, every generation of human beings must take care of these natural resources so that they may be available for future generations. Since God wants all people to share His goods, no person or groups of persons (corporations) should own or control so much of any natural resource as to prevent others from owning the natural resources that they need and have a right to.
God created the natural resources of the earth in order to satisfy people’s needs for safety, food, water, shelter, clothing, energy, transportation, communication, health and rest/recreation. The use of these natural resources should not be based on first come first serve, a free for all type approach, a dog eat dog approach, the winner take all approach or a king of the hill approach. It should be clear that these things are to be shared by all people not necessarily equally but in a way that allows for everyone to have enough to satisfy their natural needs while differences are to be based on the individual’s productivity. This means that there are both minimums and maximums with respect to the ownership of land and the other natural resources.
Natural resources are transformed by work (physical, design, organizational, managerial, etc.) into things that can be consumed or used for people’s safety, food, shelter, clothing, energy, transportation, communication, and health. The economy is the corporation of people working together jointly to transform the natural resources from God into things that can be consumed or used by people. The purpose and objective of the US economy is to satisfy in the most efficient and effective way the natural needs and desires of all Americans for food, clothing, housing, a livelihood, education, healthcare, disability care, old age care, recreation/entertainment, social interaction, acceptance and respect. This statement which expresses the purpose and objective of the economy is a major tenet of Christian economics. The US economy needs to be organized and managed in order to achieve this objective. It needs to be organized and managed based on the principles of ‘good is to be done and promoted, and evil is to be avoided’, ‘love your neighbor as yourself’, the absolute dignity and equality of every person and the natural human rights of every human being.
The United
